


Ashe and the Maiden of Water (the Reflection of the Waves, the Color of your Eyes)

by Taraxacum_officinale



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Also heads up they're baby in this (middle school age), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Mermaids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 15:55:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26980249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taraxacum_officinale/pseuds/Taraxacum_officinale
Summary: “Woah, Ashe, you’re soaked! What happened?” his siblings met him at the door again. From his shorts to his neckline, all of it was still damp.“I, uh… decided to go for a swim,” he lied. A light blush crossed his face.“In your clothes?”***On a seaside family vacation, Ashe meets a girl who seems unreal, yet at the same time more real than anything else. They don’t look the same, act the same, nor do they share the same mother tongue- but there is nevertheless a connection between them, like the estuary that forms between the briny ocean and the freshwater river.When the stars finally come out, the reality of their separate fates materializes.
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Petra Macneary
Comments: 5
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

Ashe walked to the end of the small fishing pier, his sandals knocking on the boards as he went. The wood was far from new, slightly warped and dark in places from years of weathering, but nonetheless stable. He suspected that it wasn't a popular spot for fishing, and therefore didn't attract much attention- perhaps it just wasn't the ideal place to find fish worth catching. But that was just a passing thought.

In any case, there was not a soul besides him there in the inlet at this hour, which was actually what he wanted. It was a moment of reprieve. As much as he enjoyed spending time with his family, half a day of travel down winding roads to the seaside town, and the subsequent boisterous game of soccer on the beach had worn him out. With a bit of time before dinner, he decided to spend it relaxing and reflecting in a quiet place. He wandered for a few minutes, straying from the road that led away from the beach house that his family had rented for a week.

And so Ashe found the inlet and its little pier, mostly by accident.

The sun was low on the horizon, casting a warm glow across the scenery. Taking in every detail, it was really a beautiful place. The palm fronds by the shore swayed gently, bringing a sense of peace. He sat down at the end of the planks and observed the swirling eddies below. The sound of the moving water was definitely calming, albeit a little lonely, now that he was finally there. He dipped his toes into the water, only two feet below the pier at the current high tide. The temperature of the sea was cool compared to the air, but not cold in the least.

He was starting to feel very comfortable there, feet in the water, basking in the sunset. He closed his eyes, breathed in deeply, and opened them again. Warm hues continued to glow across everything.

_Maybe I should take a photo as a keepsake?_

Just as he considered that idea, though, suddenly the sound of something splashing loudly nearby startled him. Cool drops landed on his bare legs.

"Wha…!"

He gripped the wooden planks tightly to steady himself, and peered down at the depths. There was nothing but saltwater, and the glinting forms of a few tiny fish idling around. He hadn’t been looking closely, but he swore he saw something glimmer in the splash—something big. A tail.

He waited for a while longer. The sun was starting to set, and all was quiet besides the sound of the breeze and the small waves hitting the supporting poles of the pier.

As the light grew dimmer and the waters remained splashless, Ashe got up and checked his phone. It was about time to go and meet everyone again. He made his way back to the house, roughly a ten minute walk. His mind wandered as he delighted in the warmth of the air along the path, so different from his usual northern home. But in his thoughts he kept returning to the little pier just then, wondering what creatures possibly lived in the brine beneath it.

* * *

The next day, Ashe returned to those swirling eddies at the edge of the pier. It was around sunset hour again. More than to relax, though, this time he went out of fervent curiosity. He had serendipitously found a book on marine life tucked away on a shelf in the house and flipped through it, studying illustrations of dolphins, sea turtles, and colorful fish. Even if it was just a particularly large fish, that was something he could tell his little brother and sister about. He was sure they’d be intrigued, especially at their age. 

Today as he revisited the inlet, Ashe felt his childhood curiosity refreshed. The tide was lower, and he dangled his bare feet over the water, looking intently for a sign of larger life or anything remotely unusual. He hoped to see that tail again, even though he knew it was unlikely.

But as much as he looked, all he saw were the minnows in the softly lit water, and a lone seagull that flew by and settled to bob up and down on the gentle waves. To be fair, the seagull was pretty cute, even if it wasn’t exactly what he was searching for. He took a picture with his phone, just to remember the place by. It couldn’t capture everything of course, all the sights, sounds and smells, but it was something, better than nothing. 

He was about to give up for the day and head back when he heard that familiar splash again. He turned around and looked across the water, not expecting anything in particular. But what he saw surprised him.

Staring right at him, in the gradually dimming light, were two eyes on the head of what appeared to be a girl. The rest of her head and neck, below the nose, were submerged. She was fifteen, maybe twenty feet away.

Ashe stood dumbstruck for a moment, then silently sat back on the edge of the pier. Though it would’ve been good to return to his family then, he wasn’t in much of a rush. And besides, he was completely drawn to the scene. One thought occupied his mind, echoing in the air.

_Who is she?_

When he opened his mouth to speak, he tried for a greeting.

“Hello,” he said. His voice came out quieter than he intended it to be, but nonetheless he smiled so as to not pose a threat. This was a stranger after all. “Are you… here to swim?”

She must have not heard him well, because without a word she ducked her head underwater and disappeared from sight. Or perhaps his question had just come across poorly, Ashe thought. Of course she was swimming! That much was obvious.

In any case, he sighed and thought about leaving again. No point in bothering a lone girl. Soon enough, however, she reappeared, this time right by his feet.

“Oh!” Ashe didn’t jump, but he let out a cry. He looked all around, and found that like before, there was no one else there. It was just him, and the girl in the water. Steadying himself, he brought his eyes down towards his feet again.

_How did she get over here so quickly…?_ he wondered, heart still pounding a little at the surprise. 

It was then he noticed the tail.

She was floating in such a way that it was clearly visible. Just beneath the surface, moving slightly, were deep pink scales that stretched on for at least six feet, he judged, until they tapered into a translucent, flowy end. 

A fish tail.

Unmistakably, it was a fish tail, attached to the upper half of a person. This wasn’t just a regular girl, a traveler going for an evening dive in the secluded inlet. No, he realized, she was a mermaid. 

Ashe’s jaw dropped, though he was barely aware of it. Had his parents been there, they probably would've joked about him catching flies in his mouth. 

She was staring at him again, and he forced himself to look away from her tail and up at her face. Up close, it was much easier to make out her finer features.

The girl had tan skin, large almond-shaped eyes, and high cheekbones that gave her a serious look, though her face was young. There was a mark under one of her eyes, a curved triangular design that Ashe had never seen on anyone else before. Her hair was a dark shade of plum, done up in a thick braid starting from high up on her head. At the sides of her face, shaded a deep pink like her tail, were a set of fin-like projections that seemed to replace ears. Or maybe they were ears?

Besides her tail and unusual ears, she seemed to be just a girl about his age, thirteen, maybe a little older. She wore a few layered necklaces full of colorful beads, and there was a bolt of something that appeared to be cloth wrapped around her torso, but other than that, her shoulders and arms were completely exposed. Ashe tried not to focus on the bare skin. 

They had been silently watching each other for what must have been a minute now. As the initial wonder faded a little, Ashe suddenly felt awkward. What was he supposed to say? He had never met a mermaid before. In fact, he had never interacted with anything in the way of supernatural phenomena or fantasy, outside of books and movies. Well, he was glad he had never met anything like a ghost before, but…

The eyes that watched him were narrow, full of cool caution—maybe suspicion. In truth, there was a chance she was in the same situation as him, and had never met with someone from the surface in her life. First impressions were everything, and he had to be careful with what he did next. But what _could_ he do? 

Was he, consumed by nerves, representing the human race right then?

While he sat there feeling tense and rubbing his hands, though, the girl spoke.

“Hello,” she said. 

Her tone was clear but tentative, as if the word was new on her tongue. It might as well have been, considering she wasn’t quite human, at least not like the ones he knew, Ashe mused. But she could speak! Even if she didn't fully understand his language, the fact that she could talk in itself was wonderful, he thought. Maybe they could communicate somehow.

The sun was starting to dip below the horizon, shadows growing long and falling on both of them. His family would be expecting him soon. So Ashe gulped and mustered up the courage to say something in return. He at least wanted to know her name before he left. After all, it was possible that they would never see each other again, after this chance meeting.

“Yes, hello-" he blurted. "Um, I can’t stay long, but… before that, let me introduce myself.” He took a breath, and softly placed a hand over his heart, mostly for the sake of collecting himself. He hoped his nervousness wasn’t too obvious. “My name is Ashe.”

She blinked at him and tilted her head, braid falling on her shoulder. 

“Ashe?” When she said it, she looked like she was tasting his name on her lips.

“Yes! I’m Ashe.” He paused and grinned, gesturing to himself. “Ah, what… what’s your name?” he ventured.

“Name…” She appeared to be processing his words carefully. For a moment, she swam in a half circle, then returned to her former spot. “My name is… Petra.” 

“Nice to meet you, Petra!” 

Much to his relief, for the first time, he saw the girl smile back. The moment didn't last long, however, as she dove beneath the water and didn’t resurface. Ashe was left once again to soak in the sounds of the evening and the warm touch of the summer breeze until he inevitably had to go. But just from that brief encounter, he felt like his heart was full of magic. 

It was strange, but Ashe knew he wasn’t delusional. He could’ve brushed it off as a dream, if only he hadn’t felt the few drops of water spray on his legs when she left. He thought about what he would say to his siblings, what their reactions would be. 

It was like he was the protagonist of the fantasy novels he read so often, except it was for real. Except it was also very surreal. A mermaid, his mind repeated. A mermaid, of all things. It was the stuff of myth. He shook his head in disbelief as he thought about it.

Maybe he would wait a while before telling, he settled. For now, what happened at the inlet was a secret between the two, heard only by the sunset-painted waves.


	2. Chapter 2

The next time he found himself at the pier, Ashe brought his well-worn copy of _The Maiden of Wind_ , along with a small glass bottle of soda. It was a bit earlier than before, so the sun still shone with some of its midday vigor. A sheen of sweat collected on his brow, and he gave up on reading. For a few minutes, it was just him and the calm sounds of the ocean again. 

Feeling the soft, familiar cover of the book in his lap, he closed his eyes. And when he opened them, he noticed a trail of bubbles approaching his feet.

“Petra...? Is that you?” he called quietly. He hoped his guess was correct.

The plum hair and sharp eyes then came into sight, and Ashe noticed droplets of water across her face, over her mark. 

“Hello... it is Petra.” She beamed. Ashe couldn't help but feel equally excited. Apparently, she remembered him. Maybe even trusted him a small amount, though Ashe wasn't quite ready to believe it. 

In the back of his mind, he wondered how she picked up words so quickly. As simple as it seemed, it couldn’t have been that easy. They had only met once, and for a bare few minutes at that. But he pushed the thought aside, reasoning that perhaps their respective languages weren’t _too_ different, at least in structure.

“Uh, hello again. I... didn’t expect to see you here again. But I’m glad.” He smiled at her shyly. 

She swam closer and stared intently at the book.

"Um…" The awkwardness he felt in their previous interaction returned, and he was lost on what to say. She was interested in his novel, probably? But maybe she didn’t know what a book was. Or did merpeople read a different kind of book that could remain intact underwater? His head was spinning with possibilities, and in an attempt not to waste the opportunity, he forced words out of his mouth.

"This is a book," he said plainly, holding up the novel to show the cover.

There was a pause, and Ashe felt that perhaps he had chosen the less desirable dialogue option. Surprisingly, though, Petra nodded and then continued observing the cover. 

“Well then, maybe I can show you a bit? There’s still some time before the sun starts to set today,” he said, glancing at the horizon, then back at Petra. Her lips were unmoving, but her eyes were full of vibrant curiosity as she looked up at him in wait. _Tell me_ , they seemed to be saying, though he didn't want to assume anything.

Ashe flipped through the pages, narrating his favorite scenes, describing the intricate illustrations that were part of the story. 

“Once upon a time… it’s written that… and then the king... and here, he meets this girl…...”

Meanwhile, she drew her arms over the planks, leaning casually. He knew Petra wouldn’t understand most of it, with what little she appeared to know about his language and culture, and as expected, she listened without a word of commentary. Occasionally, she blinked or widened her eyes, but that was about it.

It was a little unnerving, like giving a presentation in class as a transfer student, face to face with strangers his age. That was a familiar feeling. But he had hope that at least some meaning would get across if he continued speaking to her. It was how kids learned languages, he remembered, an odd fact he had come across outside of school, and witnessed in his younger siblings when they were much smaller— learning by listening and repeating what was heard. Though his parents certainly hadn't been pleased, his little brother had picked up a few bad words from outside the house that way.

  
  


“What is a ‘princess’?” Petra posed the question after listening through about half of the book.

It was the first time she had asked him to explain the meaning of a word, Ashe realized. He tried his best, and ended up pointing to one illustration in particular. It depicted a mighty king on his throne, dressed in fine clothes, along with a queen and a young girl, both dressed just as elaborately in jewels and richly shaded cloth.

“A princess is a girl, but the daughter of a king, or any ruler. Her father is a king,” he explained as simply as he could, tracing a finger across the picture. “This girl here is a princess.”

Realization washed over Petra’s face, her cheeks lightly flushed. After a moment of consideration, she spoke, gesturing to the page.

“My father is this, what you are calling ‘king’. I am a princess, like the book.”

Ashe was honestly amazed at, while not perfectly grammatical, how coherent her sentences were at this point. More than that, though- she was apparently a princess, or someone very similar to one. Perhaps that was the story behind the many vibrant necklaces she wore. It was just another wonder to consider, something that made their encounter even more unique. Or did it moreso widen the present gap between them? After all, as much as he liked to dream, Ashe was merely a common person with no royal blood to speak of.

Some time passed as he flipped through the rest of the story with Petra. Dusk was gradually approaching. Soon he would have to leave again, especially as there wouldn't be enough light to continue reading. He closed the book and stowed it away, taking the bottle of soda to finally open it.

All the while, Ashe felt that there was a connection between them, as different as they appeared on the outside. Maybe they could be friends. Though, he definitely hadn't gotten used to the fish tail yet, and found himself distracted by it. It swished and glimmered softly in the water, creating its own light current, and…

"Ashe?"

He nearly jumped at the sound of his name being called.

"Ah! I apologize, Petra. I… my thoughts ran away, I guess." He briefly wondered if she even parse idioms at this level, but continued with the matter at hand. "That's right, you were saying– uh, pointing to, this bottle."

"So it is called a 'bottle'?"

"Yeah," he fumbled with it in his hands, reaching for the cap. The light blue liquid sloshed and fizzed, but the miniscule bubbles quickly subsided. "A drink. Oh, I can let you taste it, if you like." 

There was still a small amount of time before he really had to go back to the house, he judged. So he gladly handed the soda to her. She took it carefully into her two hands, as if handling a test tube containing a caustic substance. But with only a second of apprehension, she took a sip.

“Taste… it is, I am tasting…” Petra didn’t finish the sentence, seemingly unsure of what word to use to describe the sensation. She muttered something under her breath in what was most likely her native language. 

“Sweet,” Ashe offered. “Um, in my language, we say this tastes 'sweet'."

“Oh? Yes, this very sweet,” she returned, and the two shared a look that bordered on understanding.

* * *

That evening as he returned to the beach house, Ashe’s siblings had some questions for him.

“You’re back kinda late, aren’t you? It’s almost–” his brother’s eyes strained at the dolphin-shaped clock on the wall “–seven thirty! Where did you go?” He was in fifth grade now, but analog clocks were apparently his weakness.

His little sister ran up to stand by her brother. Her grin revealed a gap in her teeth. “You need to help cook! Dad got shrimp, but I don’t think he knows how to make it.” 

It was more likely that his father was just waiting for him to get back so that he could take part in the cooking, Ashe thought, but he kept that to himself. His sister seemed to enjoy her own interpretation.

“Sorry for the wait. I was just relaxing at the pier again. But I got carried away, I guess,” he said, smiling at their excitement. “I’ll help in just a sec.”

“Were you _really_? You didn’t go to the bar down the street or something?” 

“And talk to the pretty girls?” his sister chimed in, giggling.

“You guys, really!” Ashe laughed.

Ashe’s mother was close at the coffee table in the living room, working on a 500 piece puzzle. From what he could see, it was already about halfway complete. She looked over and smiled at the scene her younger children were making.

“Our Ashe wouldn’t go to bars. Not at his age, and certainly not alone,” she said, meeting the eyes of her eldest son. “Try not to stay out after sunset, though. I trust you not to get into trouble, but you can never be too careful.”

“Of course,” Ashe replied. He made his way to the kitchen, where he spotted two large bags of the aforementioned shrimp, and various other ingredients on the counter. There was even a small watermelon among the groceries. His father was there, tying an apron.

“Oh, welcome back,” he said, turning to face Ashe.

“Wow Dad, you sure bought a lot for tonight.”

“I might have gotten a bit carried away myself.” His father rubbed his gray head bashfully. They soon set to work peeling the shrimp.

After that, he knew he had to limit his time at the pier. He didn’t have many days left of the vacation either, so he would just have to make the most of the short time he had. 


	3. Chapter 3

Petra turned out to be more human than some of the bipedal people Ashe knew. As he talked to her more, he witnessed different types of smiles, laughter, and occasional frowns when there was confusion or a misunderstanding. She was incredibly expressive, and on top of that, she was slowly but surely building a vocabulary from Ashe’s language, and took every opportunity to put her newfound knowledge to use. She was as intelligent as any girl he might have met in school. In fact, she would probably have been an honor student by Fodlan academic standards, based on her intuition alone. The only salient difference was the language barrier.

Ashe was, frankly, fascinated by her. And he couldn't help but want to ask all about what life was like under the sea.

“So… I’m curious, what do you usually eat?” He motioned with his hands to his mouth. “Or, uh, what do you like to eat?”

“I am eating many animals from the sea... My people are skilled with...” The water was high enough that she had her arms crossed over the surface of the pier again, while her tail was completely submerged. She tapped the wood pensively.

“Hunting?” Ashe guessed, mimicking the stance of a javelin-thrower.

“Yes! We are skilled with hunting, and eating the animals. In my language, that is...” Her eyes sparkled as she confidently relayed a sentence in her native tongue. Ashe smiled in wonder. 

“Wow, I think that’s the first time you’ve spoken to me in your language… um, I think I’ll try it, too.” All this time, they had been communicating solely in his language. It was only fair for him to step out of his comfort zone a little, to try and learn some of the words that she was more familiar with. 

He tried his best to repeat her sentence, but kept stumbling and tripping over the pronunciation. There were certain sounds he had trouble reproducing. She laughed at some of his attempts, and in the meantime, Ashe did his best to quickly recover from embarrassment.

“Oh, that reminds me–” He changed the subject by pulling a small plastic container from his bag, along with a fork wrapped in a napkin. “I brought something for you. A gift.”

“A gift,” Petra repeated, eyeing the object while craning her neck toward him. Her beaded necklaces rustled. He opened the box, revealing leftovers from the previous night’s dinner, a shrimp stir-fry. 

“Um… it’s food. Seafood– we call it shrimp. I ate it with my family yesterday.” Ashe felt apprehensive. There was a chance she wouldn’t accept, and he had to be prepared for that.

She looked at it, and suddenly her face lit up. “I am knowing this food.”

“Really?” That was a relief to hear.

“Yes.”

“Oh, um, what is it called in your language?”

“It is being called..." She paused as she received the fork and took a tentative bite. Ashe watched her, curious how she would react to something he had helped create. She didn’t seem to dislike it, at the very least.

And a second later, as if to confirm this opinion, she grinned and proclaimed her name for it, the syllables leaping out of her mouth like a spray of ocean breakers against rocks.

* * *

The day after, Ashe wasn’t able to visit the pier like usual. Instead of cooking at the house, his family went to dine at a local restaurant in town. As he ate, he wondered if Petra had waited for him again, only to be disappointed. It had only been a brief time since they first met, but their sunset encounter had become something of a routine. His family still knew nothing of it.

That night, a tropical rain began to fall across the shore, gradually moving inland. By the time he was getting ready for bed, it had morphed into a lightning storm that shook the whole house. Ashe stayed awake to distract his sleepless siblings throughout the duration of it. Each time the thunder boomed, he thought of the ocean in chaos, pounded by the rain and tossing huge waves against every bit of the shore.

* * *

The day after that, Ashe returned to the pier again, earlier than usual. His middle-ground age, neither really child nor adult, turned out to be convenient. By now his family accepted that this was just something Ashe did, that he was growing up and wanted some time and space to himself, and this was how he achieved it.

He was a little impatient to see if anything at the pier had been destroyed during the previous night, and hurried along the sandy, rain-battered path. The air was cooler and humid, and he felt the difference in his lungs and hair. Luckily, there wasn’t much sign of wear besides some damp spots. It was still worn down, but no more so than before. The construction was apparently more solid than it seemed, despite being rather old. He sat down at the end of the planks, making sure to pick a drier area. 

The water was unusually still after the storm, so flat it nearly formed a mirror. It undulated almost imperceptibly, with only the occasional bump from a small fish moving close to the surface. After a moment of silence observing the eerie calm of the sea, he took out a novel about the adventures of a boat captain to read while he waited. 

Before long, Petra appeared at around the expected time, and Ashe waved.

“Oh, hey there!”

“Hello, Ashe…” She greeted him with less than half the enthusiasm of before, and that was when he started to wonder if something was wrong. Was it possibly something he did? When he looked closer, though, there was the aftermath of a storm in her eyes. The warmth of them was dulled by fatigue, and alongside that, an emotion that was difficult to pin down. Something like… sadness. But that wasn’t the complete answer.

“Ah… um.” Seeing her expression, he was at a loss for words. But perhaps there was nothing he really could say. He doubted he could provide comfort, if that was what she needed. They were still practically strangers. Maybe the best he could do was just keep talking to her without asking too many questions. 

“Sorry I couldn’t come yesterday. I went somewhere with my family… But I brought another book today.” He showed the cover, adorned with a simple painting of the sea and gray clouds above it. “Ah, do you mind if I read some to you?”

She gave a nod, and though it was as solemn as her greeting, Ashe took the cue. Maybe she wanted a distraction. If so, he was ready to provide that. He proceeded to read out loud and explain some of the content to Petra- about sailors and whales and distant islands- but this time, she didn’t seem as interested. She kept glancing down or away from Ashe, and at last she let out a sigh. At this, he closed the novel and looked towards her, his face betraying some of the worry he had desperately tried to conceal.

“Petra, are you… are you thinking about something?”

“...”

"Uh, what is it...? I mean, if you don’t mind telling me." He could feel his palms dampen a little as he set the book down.

"I was thinking, I want to be showing you my home…" In that moment, she stared into Ashe’s eyes with a determination that gave him a lump in his throat. 

"Your home…?" That would be the sea, wouldn’t it? he realized. His eyes flitted to the water. Though some light remained, the color had grown murky, and farther out, there was no telling how deep it was to the bottom. "I… I don't know."

"Please. It will not be long!" Her tail swished emphatically as she gave him a somewhat pleading look. 

“Petra, I…” But before Ashe could object again, she grabbed his arm, and water rushed past his ears as the surface world disappeared from view.

His first instinct was to scream, but instead he kept his mouth shut, fearing the entry of the brine. Petra's grip was firm, and as much as he tried to shake himself away, he couldn’t break free.

For the first time, it crossed his mind that maybe, just maybe, it had been a mistake to befriend a mermaid. He didn’t really want to think about it- and just as well, he didn’t have the time right then to ponder his potential missteps. Terror and a small amount of seawater entered his throat, and he swiftly shut his mouth again to prevent any more damage. When the salt began to sting, he closed his eyes too.

There wasn’t much time to act. He didn’t have gills, and he knew would desperately need air in less than a minute. But he just couldn’t move. He was being pulled through the endless current, into the void of the unknown.

As soon as he considered that he was going to be drowned and lost forever, though, Petra tapped him on the shoulder. At the touch, his eyes opened. As he cautiously peered down into the depths she had led him to, something interesting appeared.

They were statues of people, shaded gray and mossy green. Fragments of light from the surface filtered down onto them, revealing a mysterious arrangement. There were people with fish tails instead of feet, carrying spears and nets, and among them people with two legs that looked like Ashe too, wielding swords and axes. Past the statues, deeper in the water, there was something more- taller and grander constructs, things glittering on the sandy floor, the colored glow of what looked like lanterns somehow piercing through...

At that point, though, Ashe’s vision was already darkening, and he felt the pressure turn his head to jello. Petra said something that echoed faintly, something that only reached his ears as a low gurgle. And she might have grabbed his other arm, but it was hard to tell. The last thing he saw before total blackness were bubbles escaping from his mouth, traveling somewhere far above, far away.


	4. Chapter 4

Petra watched as Ashe, on his knees, hacked up seawater from the depths of his lungs. She looked apologetic as she knelt down on the wooden boards, tail curled beside her as neatly as possible. But it seemed she didn’t have the proper words to apologize, and had to settle with expressing her remorse throughout her posture and expression.

He coughed for a few minutes, and all the while Petra remained silent, just a few feet away. Despite his ailment, Ashe was still hesitant to fault her. He was dizzy, and he very well could have drowned… but even so, he hadn't, and that was the important part, he thought. He had faith that she wouldn't do something so dangerous again. After all, from what he knew of her, she was honest and had good intentions. He wouldn’t drown by her hand.

As his hacking subsided and his mind grew clearer, he suddenly thought back to the statues. Who were they? They must have been important. But he would have to ask another time.

"It's okay," he said, pushing wet strands of hair away from his eyes. He gave a final cough. "It's okay, Petra."

But she only shook her head and continued looking down towards her lap. Ashe sat and crossed his legs, taking some time to catch his breath as his wet clothes dripped onto the boards. He glanced at Petra, hoping the expression on his face was reassuring enough.

“I’m alright,” he said, smiling wanly. “I’m not hurt. We can still meet again, if that’s okay with you.”

She sat still for a moment longer. Finally, she broke her silence, shifting her position slightly. "Tomorrow, I cannot meet. My people are... doing something. But after the sunset, maybe…" She met his gaze, but only for a second before once again turning her eyes downward.

"At night, then?"

"Yes… night. That is being okay."

Ashe expressed that he understood and agreed by nodding. They then parted ways, one going beneath the waves, and the other down a path lined with palms and sea grapes. The evening breeze settled in, and everything dimmed as the orange glow of the sun, as heavy as their hearts, sunk beneath the horizon.

* * *

“Woah, Ashe, you’re soaked! What happened?” his siblings met him at the door again. From his shorts to his neckline, all of it was still damp.

“I, uh… decided to go for a swim,” he lied. A light blush crossed his face.

“In your clothes?”

He wanted to be straight with his family, but he wasn’t sure just how much to tell them. “Okay, I… I actually just fell in the water. But that’s kind of embarrassing to admit, isn’t it?” 

He smiled. It pained him to tell a lie, but “falling in the water” wasn’t too far from the truth. As he carefully made his way to his room to go change clothes, he heard his little sister whisper loudly. 

“I don’t remember him being clumsy like this...”

“Me neither. Maybe it’s the heat,” his brother said.

Ashe closed his door with a sigh, quiet enough so that they wouldn’t overhear. As soon as he had gotten dry and changed, he flopped onto his bed and stuffed his face into a pillow, completely exhausted. It wasn’t a dream, his mind echoed.

 _But if only it was_ , came the reverberation.

* * *

It was the final night that Ashe and his family were staying in the town. After making sure his brother and sister were safely tucked in bed and his sister was snoring, he snuck out of the house and walked the familiar path to the pier, taking a small electric lantern for light. It wasn’t like he had much trouble navigating in the dark, but he brought it for the sake of his own consciousness. The sound of something rustling in the darkness of the bushes and palms, even if it was just the breeze, unnerved him. He hurried forward.

When he arrived at last, she was already waiting there, idling in the water. She was facing away from the pier, looking up at the sky. The tide was high, and so was the moon, a waxing crescent glowing faint yellow against the dark canvas of the sky.

“Hey, Petra.” He gently set the lantern down on the boards. “I hope I didn’t keep you too long.”

“Ashe.” She glanced back and swam up to him eagerly. “No, the time was not long.”

Her smile was as bright as midday. But he could tell that there was melancholy in it, too. It was similar to what he saw in her eyes previously, the sad emotion that escaped his description.

As the distance decreased, Ashe saw that her tail was in full view. Every scale was shining in the low light of the lantern. For the second time, she skillfully hoisted herself up onto the boards to sit next to him. It seemed to take little effort.

This time, though, her eyes weren’t filled with regret. Her tail dipped down into the water and swished playfully as she smiled at him. Ashe felt his heart flutter unwittingly.

For a precious moment, they each inhaled and exhaled the night, the sky full of twinkling stars, the distant waves arriving at the shore nearby. The two were closer now, tied together by the magic of the scenery surrounding them. The sea was much lonelier at night, and yet it seemed as if they had innumerable company from above.

_So many stars…_

He looked over at Petra, who appeared calm and stoic, the mark under her eye faintly visible in the moonlight. He wondered what she was really feeling, looking at the sky beside him. But some feelings didn’t need words, Ashe realized. They just needed to be shared.

“I am being glad I met you, Ashe,” she said after a while. “Being glad. Is that the correct way of words?”

“It’s almost correct,” he replied, and instead of explaining the grammar, he decided to give an example himself. “I... I’m glad I met you, too.”

He wished he didn’t sound so meek when he said it, but at least it was in earnest.

“Yes. I have had much learning from you.” She smiled and nodded.

“You know, I’ve learned something too.” At that he again tried to quietly replicate that sentence she had spoken about hunting in her language. Again, Petra giggled innocently at how he stumbled, and Ashe could feel himself flush. The mood grew lighter.

“Sorry, sorry,” she said, covering her mouth. “It is being funny… but Ashe, you are near to the words.”

“Really? Well, I tried...” He laughed a little in return, and looked away. “Actually, there’s something related to that… that’s been on my mind.”

Petra waited for him to continue. He coughed lightly.

“Um… how did you learn to speak so well? It wasn’t just from me, was it…?” It was something he had been pondering for the past few days. He didn’t doubt her intelligence, but the way she had learned his language just seemed so unreal. Could people really learn how to have conversations in a completely different tongue in only a week?

She grew a little more solemn, as if about to admit a deep secret. When she spoke, it was slow and careful. “No… I was not telling you before, but there are some of my people who are knowing your language, from a long time. I am talking with them at times.”

Seeing that his suspicions were partly correct, Ashe nodded.

“Ah, now that you mention it, I can see it… I mean, I think I understand.” If she had been studying with people she knew, that explained some things, at the very least how rapidly she picked up words. She might have been aware of his language even before they met. Had she just been shy then, that first day? Maybe she just hadn’t been confident in speaking yet, he mused.

Petra smiled. "I am glad. I want to say… when I first saw you, I knew I was trusting you, maybe.”

"Oh..."

 _Trust…_ It was surprising to hear, when Ashe thought back to those narrowed eyes from their first meeting. He continually assumed that she had been raised to be wary of strangers, and this was likely true. In that case, what made him different from any other surface person? He wondered, but of course, there was no definite answer.

They passed a few more silent moments together, listening to the sound of the gentle waves. The moon's pale light danced on the dark water. Ashe was completely mesmerized by the unfamiliarity of the sea at night, and for a while, he said nothing.

"What is it called, in your language?" Petra asked out of the blue.

"…the what?" Ashe was confused at the sudden question. Then he noticed her eyes drawn upwards, fixed on the brightest object in the sky. "Oh! That's… well, we call it the moon," he answered. It was such a simple thing. And yet...

"I am thinking," she said, after a pause, "that the moon is very beautiful tonight."

“I... think so too.” Again, Ashe didn’t have the words to describe what he was feeling. All he could do was offer simple agreement.

After another moment, she produced a round, flat object from a pouch. It seemed like she had been waiting for the right time to take it out, and Ashe looked over curiously. She handled it delicately, as if it were a craft made of intricately cut and folded paper. But it looked much more solid than that.

“Oh, um, what’s that you have there?”

She inched toward him and faced him, her caramel colored eyes meeting his green ones. 

“A gift,” she said simply, echoing his words from several days past.

Ashe thought he couldn’t be in any more awe, and his face felt warm again. “Is…is that for me?”

“Yes. Here,” she affirmed, placing the gift in his palm. Their hands grazed each other, and a small electric current ran through Ashe’s body all the way up to his head. Willing himself to be calm, he felt the object in his hand and turned his attention towards it.

He then recognized it from the shape and odd markings- the skeleton of a sand dollar, a type of sea creature that lives nestled in the sand in the warm water by the shore. Just like the illustrations from the book he had found on that first day, the edges were perfectly intact. Meanwhile, its surface was slightly rough like bone, or maybe the crust of bread. He recalled finding fragments of the skeletons when he went swimming at the beach, among the scattered rocks and shells. He hadn’t realized what exactly they were back then, and this was the first time he had seen a whole specimen.

“Wow, I… this is amazing. I honestly don’t know what to say. Did you find this in the sea?”

She shook her head softly. “My father, the king, see-” Petra pointed to an engraving on the bottom side, which Ashe then studied. They looked like runes of some sort.

“This is his name. When I was much smaller…” She seemed to be thinking about something deeply, but then shook her head, as if to curtail that conversation. “He is not here, my father… he is not here anymore.”

At that, Ashe recalled the sudden change in her mood the other day and the strange, sad expression on her face. All at once, it made sense. It was the night of the storm, and immediately after that- grief, unease, and rashness that led to regret. 

He wanted to apologize, to make up for it somehow. But that was also out of the question, and far out of his territory to begin with. Unable to respond, he rationalized it by remembering how happy Petra seemed to be able to meet him again. She could still smile, after losing so much. For that, he realized, she was incredibly strong.

He looked down again at the sand dollar. It was hollow, something that once belonged to a living animal. In that way, it was merely an essence, a memory of a life. And that was probably what Petra wanted to convey with her gift. 

_Remember me._

“Thank you, Petra. I’ll keep it close.”

For a while longer they sat there, staring at the moon and stars adrift in the night sky. Ashe held the sand dollar gently in his lap. Petra did not speak again. This was her goodbye, he realized. It was then that the weight of the world seemed to fall on him, nearly pushing him off the pier, into the dark and endless sea. But he stayed put. All along, a question swam through his mind, a question that only the stars could answer. It was a story that only time could tell. 

* * *

It was time to leave. Everything was promptly packed up in the trunk of the car, and Ashe’s family said goodbye to the house by the shore and with the charming town around it. Ashe squeezed in next to his siblings in the back, taking one of the window seats.

“I’m gonna miss the beach,” his sister said, pressing her face to the other window. In that moment, Ashe sympathized with her, having discovered a love for the sand and sea, the unique animals and plants that thrived in it… but he also had discovered other things, things that weren’t as easy to explain.

As they drove down the winding road, they passed the tiny inlet where he had spent almost every sunset since that first day. The water was bright blue and glittering in the daylight, waves lapping on the sandy shore around it. Ashe's eyes didn't leave it as the road continued. Soon it would be obscured by mangroves and palms and sea grapes.

Before the scenery completely disappeared, he reached into his bag and felt for the sand dollar Petra had given him the night before. His fingers smoothed over it as he grew lost in the pieces of vivid memories from the past few days.

“It’s too bad we have to leave this place,” his father said out of the blue. “But it was good while it lasted. We should vacation here again someday. Maybe when you kids are older?" He gave them a cheery glance through the mirror.

“Yeah, that’d be nice,” Ashe said, closing his eyes. A warm drowsiness overtook him.

He would never forget her, the inlet, the color of the water during those peaceful days. Not as long as he lived. This he promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Thank you for reading this story. If you have any comments, please comment below ^_^
> 
> If all goes well, I may publish a sequel someday. It would take place some years in the future, and since this piece is mostly from Ashe's perspective, I would probably have more of Petra's perspective in that. In any case, happy Petrashe Week!


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